New Shanghai

It has been some time since I mentioned food on the blog and this experience was too good not to share. The New Shanghai restaurant at Queens Plaza, Brisbane was recommended and the queue outside was an indication of it's popularity. Hand made dumplings are a speciality and we ordered 3 varieties, all delicious.

Fried pork dumplings.

Steamed dumplings, Chive and pork and Prawn all very yummy with a dash of Chinese vinegar or Soy sauce.

We tried the White tea, but will be ordering the green next time.

Seeing possibilities

What happens when a group of textile artists get together? We begin to see possibilities around us and draw, scribble and photograph. What will you notice today, in your everyday environment?

A new quilt purchase

I was delighted to purchase a Susan Matthews quilt and loved the gold wrapping it came in.

Coastal Banksia 2 was part of the Ozquilt Network's Australia Wide 3 touring exhibition. The next exhibition, number 4 will premier in Adelaide on October 24.

 

Priceless

Good, long term friends are priceless. L-R Sue, Diane, Marg. Here we are at the recent Samford quilt show, which is always very enjoyable. We are posing in front of Di's quilt Le Jour des Six Tartes.

It is such a great modern hexagon quilt with the hexagons scattered over a pieced and pre-quilted background. Lots of lovely surprises.

Ad even a bit of Italian in Paris! 

Thread colour

In a previous blog post I showed you the mauve rayon thread that I used on the pale grey background when quilting on another quilt in this Seduced by the Imperfect series. For this new quilt I decided to use a pale green, Rasant thread as the colour blended well with the tonal variations in my hand dyed fabric.

I quilted for texture, using the dyed pattern to suggest where I should stitch.

South African National Quilt Festival 2015

I've always harboured a secret desire to visit Africa one day. In fact I've made a number of African inspired quilts over the years and these details are from a quilt made with friends after a day of swapping and sewing blocks for us all.

Now I'm very excited as I've been invited to be the tour host on a Down Under Quilts 13 day, small group, escorted trip to South Africa culminating in the South African National Quilt Festival! Tour dates June 24- July 7 2015 with options for extensions.http://activetravel.com.au/Trips/south-africa-quilting-fair/
Active Travel, based in Canberra have put together a very interesting tour, but we need a minimum of 10, maximum 16 participants. Is this something that appeals to you? I would love you to join me on this new adventure in the company of textile enthusiasts. A little rubbing along the way, anyone?
 

Azaleas

My 2larger azaleas have been beautiful this Spring with such a show of pink. I also have a smaller white one which flowered first.

It's just a pity they don't last a little longer. I tell my granddaughters that the petals make lovely skirts for the fairies.

Black leaves

This is the second quilt I've almost completed for the Seduced by the Imperfect series. Just the facing to hand stitch and rod pocket to attach, plus label. I stitched and then painted into this black leaf shape, adding some of the brighter green to echo the green of the other large leaf.

Facing in progress.
Also am working on number three and printed onto this piece of black silk. I rather like the lacy look of the printing. It have cut it and appliqued it to the background fabric. The 4 separate leaves were test prints and will no doubt be used in something else.

And the winner is.......
After combining the blog and face book comments about the Spring issue of Down Under Quilts magazine, and drawing out a name, the lucky winner of the magazine is Margaret. Hope everyone is able to also get a copy of this great Aussie magazine.
 

The Brisbane Festival

The Brisbane Festival is on until September 27 and the Southbank area is the hub and host to lots of interesting sights. This is some of the Brisbane Airport Light Garden, by Tony Assness and Cave Urban, not lit up in the daylight hours, but still intriguing and interesting with tons of bamboo used in the construction.

And this is the strange shape of Exxopolis by Architects of Air. We didn't go in, but apparently the installation is amazing inside with many different coloured lights. It is not a free activity.

It all ends with River Fire on Saturday 27.

 

Must see exhibitions

I was delighted to finally meet Kim Schoenberger [L] in person at the opening of Expressions of Love II and [Centre] Anne Harris's exhibition Lovingly Interrupted at [R] Janet De Boer's
 Gallery 159. These two talented artists elevate the ordinary to the extraordinary. The humble tea bag and eco dyeing never looked like this before and the pieces from both artists blended harmoniously.

The exhibition continues until September 28. Call Janet on 07 3300 6491 for a weekday appointment or come on the weekend between 11am-4pm.

SAQA auction

The annual SAQA auction of 12" art quilts begins today. My quilt Hawaii Breeze is on page 1 which is offered for auction first.

Martha Sielman  Executive Director says, " Please read the directions carefully.  ONLY the quilts on Page 1 will be up for bid next Monday starting at 2:00 EDT.  All proceeds from SAQA's Auction go to support the art quilt movement through our exhibitions and publications.  Bid early and often!"

Support the art quilt -- Bid early and often in the SAQA Benefit Auction: http://www.saqa.com/memberArt.php?cat=34

Thanks for your support.

Detail of the work in progress. 

Colour decision

I needed to make a decision about the thread colour for the background quilting. The fabric I dyed is a light grey with a pearlescent shine. I've often found pale violet/mauve to be a good thread colour for blending and this was the case here after looking at some other colours.

The stitched line is more important rather than having the thread colour stand out as a contrast to the background colour.

Down Under Quilts

Down Under Quilts is the magazine I write my Global Thread column for and I am proud to say, is based here in Brisbane Queensland, Australia. The new Spring issue No 166 is due out next week, September 18 in newsagencies and will also be available at Coles supermarkets. What a good thing to read while waiting at the checkout!
One lucky Australian blog reader can receive a free copy of the magazine by commenting here on my blog from now until next Wednesday.

The 166 issue has a fresh new look and comes with a free pinwheel with 30 quilting pins.
If you prefer online issues they are available through the link below:

 

http://www.moremags.com.au/quilting/down-under-quilts-166-389 *hard copy)

http://www.moremags.com.au/digital-editions/down-under-quilts-digital/duq-166-digi (digital version)

 

Next

This is a detail photo of The thin green line which is now finished. Thanks for your suggestion Jan, I'll keep it for another one. I am back into a working rhythm in the studio and it feels good. The next quilt is under the machine and texture is appearing.

The outline quilting of these leaves gives a texture too, but hard to see in the photo.

Harvest exhibition

The Harvest exhibition at GOMA, Brisbane is displaying art from the galleries collection and there are many things which caught my eye. Forking tongues 1992 by Simryn Gill, Malaysia is a large installation/perhaps sculpture which is very arresting on the concrete gallery floor. Visually beautiful with a hidden message.

These are two details from Robin White's New Angel 1-111 1998 made by the Teitoiningaina Catholic Women's Training Centre, Republic of Kiribati. The use of traditional material captured me.

The repeated forms in Mud mussels 2003 by Michael Gadjarwala caught my eye from across the room.

The biospheres dominate the centre of the gallery and visitors walk around and under them.

 

 

Quirky

I love going to the Gallery of Modern Art in Brisbane without any idea of what I may encounter and being surprised. This pineapple obsession is certainly a quirky installation.

I have a teapot that fits this set and I now have it out of the cupboard and in use again.

They have wallpapered over everything on one long wall.